


Friend Codes

by stmystere



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7682794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stmystere/pseuds/stmystere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lúcio accidentally gets locked out of the watchpoint one night, so Bastion keeps him company. They listen to some retro tunes, disagree about a spider, and hold hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friend Codes

"Hey, Bastion," Lúcio said.

Bastion whistled back politely.

"You don't have a key, do you? Or maybe some kind of built-in thing for picking locks? No, scratch that one. Just a regular spare key?"

_Voo-woop_ , Bastion said.

"Cool," said Lúcio, nodding. "How about this. One beep means affirmative, and two beeps means negative. How's that?"

_Beep._

"Now we're talking." The doorknob on the watchpoint's side door stubbornly resisted a final jostle. He knocked a few more times and sat down on the step near Bastion with a defeated sigh. The robot was folded up for the night, their blue frontal bulb watching Lúcio curiously. A lamp shaped like a candle on the wall weakly illuminated their right sides while shadows hugged them from the left. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

_Beep beep._

"Okay, just making sure. Man, I can't believe I got locked out. This building is so old-fashioned with all the little card keys and stuff, huh? Who remembers to carry theirs around? Well, I guess everyone except me did."

Bastion made an understanding mechanical hum and unfolded their arms and legs. They sat down on the top step beside Lúcio, their bulky metal form towering high over him. After a glance, they put their hands on their knee joints, attempting to mimic his bored pose.

Lúcio smiled. "You get me, Bastion. At least if I have to be stuck outside, I get to chill with a friend. You got any music we can listen to?"

There was a pause, and then an old .midi file started playing, sounding like it might be coming from Bastion's gun arm. It was a series of tinny little notes strung together in a pleasant downtempo arrangement, like leisurely walking through a field.

"Nice. That must be from a really old video game, right? Do you know which one?"

_Beep beep.... beep._

"Three beeps? Okay, we might have to figure out some more words of this language, because two is not cutting it. You like video games, Bastion?"

Bastion beeped to the affirmative. They turned their head to look somewhere by the fence encircling the perimeter, distracted by the sudden flight of a bird from a distant tree.

"We should play something together sometime. You want to? Go easy on me, though. I'm fast, but I don't have those robot reflexes." Lúcio zipped up his jacket against the chill of a night breeze. The stars were brightly visible here and the moon was a white sliver.

He rested his chin on his hand and looked up at the stars for a minute, trying to recognize some of the constellations. Bastion was preoccupied with something on their other side. When they turned back around, their hands were cupped together, holding something between them. They looked down silently.

"Did you find something?" It was Lúcio's turn to peer curiously at the robot's enclosed hands. "Is it one of your birds?" The space looked too small for a bird, but he wasn't sure.

Bastion extended his hands toward Lúcio and carefully opened them to show him. A small, fat black spider skittered out over their fingers. It was only slightly bigger than his thumbnail but Lúcio lurched back like he got shocked. "Ai Jesus! Spider!"

He scooted away further than necessary and Bastion hastily turned back the other way to release the spider on the side of the wall. Lúcio drew up his feet as if it might race back just for the chance to crawl up his leg. "Jeez. I didn't know it was a spider. Holy crap, Bastion." He grinned and laughed slightly in embarrassment. "My heart just sped up a little. Hey, don't look like that, it's okay. I'm not a fan of spiders but it's cool that you like them. You like every bug and every animal. I like that."

Bastion made a noise with a downward inflection. Lúcio couldn't guess what it meant, but he patted the metal hand closest to him. "Whoa, your hands are actually warm. Can you help warm mine up?" He wasn't really cold all over, but his fingers were freezing. Bastion perked up at that and enveloped his small hands in their big ones. "Toasty," Lúcio told them. He moved closer so he wouldn't have to stretch his arms out.

The .midi came to an end and it was quiet. The two of them sat together like that, with Bastion clasping his hands loosely so as not to pinch them. They were as careful with Lúcio as they were with anything else. He wondered if Bastion thought of him as a baby bird.

His stomach growled. He looked up over their heads at the darkened brick arch over the front steps, and the tall building that he knew was beyond it. "You think I could climb up the side and open one of the windows? Maybe you could give me a boost."

The door behind them rattled at that moment and swung open. Light flooded over them and Lúcio twisted to blink into it. A surprised Winston stood in the doorway. "I thought I heard something. Have you been waiting out here for very long?"

"Nah, a few minutes." Lúcio jumped up and grinned sheepishly. "I left my key in my bed."

"You should have gone around to the front door, there's an intercom. And facial recognition system." Winston adjusted his glasses. "The latter of which is, ah, offline for repairs. I'm sorry about this, please come inside."

"It's no problem, Bastion was with me. We had a good chat." Lúcio picked up the robot's heavy hand and tugged them up. "Come on, buddy, let's go in."

Winston was clearing his throat pointedly but Bastion beeped and whirred to follow him. At full height, they had to hunch to fit inside the arch. One look at the doorway, and Lúcio realized there was no way Bastion would fit through it. "They'll have to go in through the double overhead doors in the back," Winston said. "I'll open them for you. But please," he directed a weary look at Bastion, "leave the wildlife outside. This base is members-only."

Bastion was the picture of innocence as they lifted their elbows and one leg at a time to show they had nothing to hide. Winston sighed and lumbered inside.

Lúcio followed and started to close the door. He peeked back out to wave at Bastion and stuck his hands out, miming playing on a gamepad. Bastion beeped once and repeated the gesture. Lúcio smiled and winked at them, and shut the door.


End file.
